3/27 Class Reflection

On class Friday we learned about many different topics.  One topic we talked about was "gamification" or "gamifying".  What "gamification" means is that you turn an exercise or a usually boring activity into a game.  For example more and more schools are using different strategies to review the topics learned in class, in a fun way like a game. For music theory there are a lot of games online that help the students practice their audiation and it gives the students their score out of a certain number of points and the students work to improve their score.  One website I use that is very useful is Musictheory.net.  Also "gamifying" is used for physical fitness as well.  For example Wii Fit, Nike+ and Xbox Kinect and many others that use the idea of fitness as a game to the person playing it.

Another topic we learned in class is about the Khan Academy.  I learned about this in my high school, I thought it was really cool and it is very beneficial to the students and to help students with tutoring.  In my chemistry class we actually used this strategy with having all the lectures online for homework.  And during class we would do our labs and homework.  I really enjoyed it because I was able to stop the slide or video and take notes and I can control the lecture the entire time.  I thought it was very beneficial and I thought it helped me learn chemistry and it was fun going to class and not listen to a lecture, but actually get some work done.  Overall the Khan Academy is very interesting and I cannot wait to watch those videos, so I can learn more about it.

Audio Equipment Project

3/16 Class

On class Friday Professor Riley talked about audio equipment.  The first equipment Professor Riley brought out was a Fender Passport System.  One thing that  was really cool about the Fender Passport System is that it is a small portable PA system, which contains everything you need packed in a small package, which makes it very self contained and it is fairly light weight too! This can be useful when I have to use a PA system for a marching band, the Fender Passport System would be perfect for this use, because its easy to travel with and it  is not too difficult to set up.

Another tip that Professor Riley told us was that when a singer is checking the microphone they need to actually use their singing voice not just their normal voice, because that's not how they would sing, so the adjustments would not be correct.  Another interesting audio equipment device that Professor Riley showed us was the Korg Nanokey.  This was pretty cool because it is a small keyboard that can be hooked up to an computer and it can take the place of the big Casio keyboards, because really students would use the keyboards maybe a couple times a year and the Korg Nanokey would take up less desk space.  The downside of the Korg Nanokey is that it feels like a cheap computer keyboard and does not feel like a regular keyboard, but it can get the job done.

During the last part of the class Professor Riley was talking about how  to make a finance log for the equipment you have to buy for your classroom.  So for our next assignment we have to make a finance log for our fake class so that we can get used to how to make one in the future.

Reflection of 3/9

On class last Friday Professor Riley talked about copy right laws.  I thought the class was very informative and I feel like I need to review all the copy right laws because they can get confusing very quickly.  One of the topics includes creations of the mind and these categories include Copyrights, which is music, art and literature, Patents, which are inventions, Trademarks, logos, Brand names, and Trade Secrets, which include recipes.   One thing that I really was surprised about the copyright law is that it is a protection of their work and it lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years!  I never knew that, but that makes sense because the copyright is for the relatives and for the family.  Another new thing I learned about is Fair Use.  Fair Use is the legal defense to a copyright infringement claim, allowing minimal use of copyrighted material for education, research, criticism, parody, and news reporting.

I know all of this is important because when I become a teacher I need to know about all these copyright laws because of the type of music I will choose for my bands or ensembles.  I wanna make sure I follow all the rules so that I don't get myself in trouble or the school and ensembles in trouble because of legal reasons.  Which would be bad.  Overall it was an informative class and I look forward to tomorrow.

Reflection of Friday the 24 of Feb.

In class we talked about recording and composing music with students.  Professor Riley brought up that this idea or activity is good to achieve the National State Standards in Schools, because its focusing on creativity and it is also challenging and fun for the students.  Professor Riley gave us many examples of how he has used Garage Band and other recording technology to record his students when he was teaching at various different schools earlier in his career.  One thing that I think is awesome is that Professor Riley is part of the non profit organization called Short Stop Youth Center.  I think this is awesome and I love the idea and progress this organization does for kids and students.

For our next project we have to compose and record a song of my own just like the students Professor Riley taught and teaches at the Short Stop Youth Center.  This is a good activity for us to figure out and get the handle on so that we can do this in our classrooms one day.  Professor Riley told us that it is a good idea for younger students starting out to put them into groups and to give them a certain theme for their song, and have them write lyrics and compose music to be recorded on their very own CD.  I believe this is a good tool to use in the classrooms.  I know for me it would be a great activity if I taught general music in the middle schools or high schools.  Overtime technology will get better and better, and who knows what kind of recording technology we will have in the future.